March 4, 2014
Dear Softimage Customer,
We are committed to providing our customers with the most technologically advanced products and highest quality customer service possible.
After careful consideration, it has become necessary to make some changes to our software portfolio in order to continue to do so.
We therefore regret to inform you that the upcoming 2015 release will be the last one for Autodesk(r) Softimage(r), which is expected to ship on April 14, 2014.
Autodesk will continue to offer product support until Apr 30, 2016. We will also provide any necessary hot-fixes and service packs to all customers, at no cost, until Apr 30, 2016.
We understand that you will now need time to re-evaluate your production capabilities. To help you, we are offering Autodesk(r) Subscription customers
special no cost options to migrate to either Autodesk(r) Maya(r) or Autodesk(r) 3ds Max(r) while continuing to use Softimage in production.
These options will be available until Feb 1, 2016. Upgrade paths are also available for customers who are not on Subscription.
As of March 28, 2014, Softimage will no longer be available for sale to new customers.
However, we will provide existing customers with the option to purchase either additional software licenses
or new rental plans until Feb 1, 2016. Our goal is to give you the flexibility you need to continue to use,
and scale, Softimage in production during the transition to either Maya or 3ds Max.
The Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite (ECS) Premium will no longer be available for sale as of March 28, 2014.
ECS Premium customers on Subscription will receive Autodesk ECS Ultimate, at no additional cost.
We will also be reducing the price of ECS Ultimate software and Subscription.
Softimage 2015 will remain part of ECS Ultimate for a transition period of two-years, after which it will be removed.
Although this decision is a difficult one, we do believe that by focusing our efforts we can better serve the needs
of the media and entertainment industry and provide customers with better products, faster. Autodesk wants to
continue its relationship with you into the future. We regret any inconvenience that this may cause, however we
believe you will find our new transition product offerings very attractive.
We understand that you may still have questions about this transition and invite you to join us on
Monday, March 17, 2014 at 12PM EST for a live Q&A webinar. Please register and submit your questions here
Who cares....
For more details please refer to the Questions and Answers section below.
Sincerely,
Marc Stevens
Vice President Film & TV Solutions
Autodesk